


Down Wind

by Dekka



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020), 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020) RPF, Lone Star (TV 2010)
Genre: Assumed Character Death, Hostage Situations, M/M, ep 208
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:16:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29875518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dekka/pseuds/Dekka
Summary: The first hour of Tk's disappearance
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Comments: 14
Kudos: 141





	Down Wind

Carlos knows fear. He knows the way it makes his hands shake and his heart fall to swirl, uneasy, in his stomach.

He knows the way it makes Owen’s voice echo in his head, saying, “Tk’s missing," over and over again, like a broken record. It's doomed to repeat itself, burning the memory into his mind. He remembers the inflection of it; the soft, careful way Owen had said it. Like there was still hope.

Now, Carlos is staring down at an abandoned van filled with bloody gauze, med supplies, and his boyfriend and partner’s radios. 

“This doesnt look good.” He says what they’re all thinking. 

It’s Owen who turns away first, even as Carlos lets his eyes devour the scene. He prays for a clue, a sign of life, _anything_. 

Eventually, it’s his father that pulls him away as the PD captain arrives on scene. “You have to let them work,” he says. His hand is strong and unyielding as it buries in Carlos’ shirt, gently pulling him away. 

“I have to help.” His works lack motivation even as his heart thuds painfully with worry. He feels tired enough to acknowledge that maybe he's just tired of always worrying, of crying, of praying. Out of all the things that have finally gone right for him—at work and at home—he can’t help but think this is the playing field somehow evening itself out.

For weeks he’s felt like life was too good. He should’ve known. Things never seem to stay that way for long. 

Owen shocks him from his sourly hopeless thoughts, his approach too fast and frantic. “I can’t sit here and do nothing. _They have my son_.”

The sentiment is more than shared. “I say we search each level first," Carlos says, mapping out the plan in his head. "PD is going to take an hour alone just to secure the scene before they do anything more than put out an APB.” 

Owen seems to like his idea and the direction it provides. They go up the flights of the parking ramp stairs together in silence all while Carlos’ mind takes hold of him. 

He loves his job on a good day, but an hour—a whole hour they don’t have— just to tape off the scene and speak to witnesses is too much. The anger simmering in him can barely be felt under the panic as he marvels sickeningly at the thought of how far someone could have taken Tk in that timeframe. If it were up to him, there would be road blocks out already, with or without proof that their attackers had access to any form of transportation.

“ _Carlos!_ ” 

His name is yelled from the bottom of the steps just in time for Carlos to turn and see his father there, puffing out lungfuls of air as if he ran after them. 

“Dad?”

“They have a lead!” 

It's too good to be true. He doesn't allow himself to get his hopes up as he takes the steps down as fast as he can, bypassing his father completely to make it back faster to the PD Captain. “Cap?” Even to his own ears, with only that one syllable, he sounds like he’s begging. 

“Carlos,” she starts sympathetically, hands already out to placate him. He cant take this waiting game or the carefulness everyone seems so hellbent on keeping up around him. 

“What did you find?” It’s a demand this time, his voice steadier than he could’ve hoped. He can feel Owen arriving at his back, panting along with his father who joins them. 

“A car,” the police captain starts, “headed out the west exit. Detectives are tracing it now, but it’s going to take time to gain access to private security footage along the road to confirm their route.” 

“And the bad news?” Carlos asks, because he can see the strain in her eyes. 

“Maybe you should sit down,” she suggests lightly, then looks to the fire captain, “both of you.” 

Carlos feels his body lock up as he braces for the blow of her words. He couldn’t move if he wanted to. He knows her phrase from their training. It’s how they begin the process of informing next of kin of a relative passing when they’re forced to go to their doors. 

“Just say it,” Owen begs. 

She nods, but grabs Carlos’ hand as she finally gives them the truth. “The 126 Para Med Captain Tommy Vega and Paramedic Nancy Gillian were seen loading two bodies into a van, both under gun point by two assailants.” 

“And Tk?” Owen asks. 

Carlos shakes his head, not willing to believe what she’s implying. 

“One of the bodies had a slight flare come from their chest,” she explains. It's not enough.

“So?” Owen presses, voice turned prickly with fear. 

“We believe the flare was because the person had a badge on their chest, similar to where a Paramedic’s badge would lay.” It’s silent then, as if the quiet itself has been laid over them. 

There’s something about death that cant be understood in that moment. Carlos knows when he goes home Tk’s life will still be there in the sweats he left thrown in the closet and in his shoes at the door and the programs he recorded on the TV. 

It doesnt seem real that those things would persist even as Tk slips from his grasp. 

The thought is so unreal that Carlos doubts his Captain for the first time. It’s the shock maybe, he realizes, that makes the disbelief believable. 

“I want to see the footage.” The words take a toll on Carlos, having to physically pull them from his chest as a full-body tremor starts war on him. 

“Carlos-” Her own eyes water. She has a family waiting for her at home and a kid Tk's age. Cases like these are never easy. 

Carlos can’t look at her anymore. She’s the women he’s always looked to for guidance and a steady hand in even the worst of times, yet here she is, breaking in front of him. 

“Cap,” he begs, “I want to see it.” 

Finally, she nods him on towards their hastily set up command center. He doesnt care to acknowledge Owen or his father behind him, or their reactions to the news. He just needs the car’s make and model, and to see the video for himself. He needs to keep going, keep moving, because if he stops he knows that'll be it and all of this becomes real. 

The footage itself ends up being less than impressive. It’s shitty quality with no audio, but it’s enough. The first body is undoubtedly a stranger, blood leaving a trail as the two women on screen drag him across the lot. It’s only after the first man is situated in the waiting van that the man with the gun starts prodding Tommy and Nancy back towards the way they came, where the camera’s view cant see. 

As much as Carlos prepares himself for what he knows is about to happen, it does nothing to help. His breath still catches as Tk’s pulled across the lot by his partners. 

They have to stop halfway to the van, Nancy breaking down in sobs as Tk’s body falls, limp to the concrete. The gunman has no patience for their hysterics, pointing the gun at Tk until Tommy pushes Nancy to her feet and forces her to help get him to the van. 

It’s only then that something in Carlos reawakens. 

He rewinds, plays, then rewinds the film again. 

“What do you see?” Owen is at his shoulder, looking for hope. 

“You don’t point a gun at a dead man,” Carlos says. He freezes the frame, the assailant’s threatening weapon drawn on Tk’s limp body as he goads Nancy into continuing on. 

Sounding nearly out of his mind, Owen laughs. “You don't,” he whispers. 

They flag down the Police Captain before doubt can rear its head again.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments feed the writer :) let me know if you'd like to see a second chapter!


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